Public Statements

Issue Position: Review All Federal Spending, Rules and Regulations

Issue Position

Explosive government spending and regulations have taken us away from our Founding Father's vision of the role of the federal government. Stimulus spending, bailouts for Wall Street, local education, AMTRAK, farm subsidies, medical research, alternative energy development, transportation programs the list of federal spending programs that can be cut goes on and on.

We need to examine every line of federal spending to ensure that it falls within the Constitutional limitations envisioned by our founding fathers. Rather than voting on omnibus spending bills, where Congress lumps all federal programs into one massive bill, Congress should be required to pass spending bills on an agency by agency basis, thus effecting an actual review of agency spending.

We should also examine all federal regulations.

In 2009 the Code of Federal Regulations totaled 163,333 pages. One hundred and sixty-thousand pages of rules and regulations that strangle business, distort decision making, instill resentment and fear into the populace, slow down economic growth, empower bureaucrats in Washington and intrude upon our lives.

Since taking office, President Obama has added tens of thousands of pages more to the Code. None of these regulations have passed the scrutiny of the voters or the direct blessing of Congress.

We need to control and eliminate these federal regulations. To do that, we should implement a five-year Sunset Rule, during which time we review every rule and regulation. Those that can pass Congressional muster should be kept. Those that don't pass a vote in Congress should be automatically eliminated at the end of the fifth year.